It's really easy to understand and it changed my view of the universe. The math is quite simple and the book will guide you to the same conclusions Einstein discovered. Once you understand special relativity it's amazing how simple and logical it is.
Its unfortunate that a lot of the material I have run into so far is more interested in teaching the theory then providing its mathematical foundations (like proper use and meaning of Lorentz transforms).
Thanks for the book recommendations/site recommendations. It will greatly help my persuit for the understanding.
But, just out of curiosity, how does Einstein resolve the other issue of which frame of reference is moving and which one is still? and you know, in same line of questioning, what is meant by rest mass?
The whole point is that you can't tell which frame of reference is "moving". That is the law of physics stay the same no matter which inertial frame of reference you use. That was already true with classic galilean motion. But then the problem of the observed (and calculated from Maxwell's laws of electromagnetism) fixed speed of light was threatening that notion. As it seemed, it would have to be relative to some universal reference frame.
Einstein's special relativity manages to show that the relativity principle is compatible with a fixed speed of light. But that means the universe works a bit differently than thought before ^^ Rest mass is simply the mass of an object as observed in an inertial frame of reference where it speed is zero.
Thanks for all the help. It has made the concepts a little clearer.
I am still caught in this paradox:
If you cannot tell which frame of reference is moving...then how do you tell which one is effected by time dilation/length contraction? Is there a difference between the two frames that I dont see that causes this?
Both frames of reference are equally affected. You confusion probably come from what I call the space traveller problem. Some guy leaves earth to go explore our neighbour stars travelling at near the speed of light. When he comes back he''s only 1 year older while everyone on earth is 20 years older. Could we not see this problem relative to the space traveler? The earth is the one moving away while he stays still and as such he should be the one 20 years older? There is a catch here, special relativity only applies to inertial frames, frames of reference that are not accelerating. This hypothical situation isn''t symetrical as it is the traveller which accelerates. While he''s moving at constant velocity, time seems to pass slower on earth from his point of view, just the same as time seems to slow down on his spaceship from the point of view of an earth observer. But when he starts decelerating to go back to earth, from his point of view time on earth seems to go extra fast. General relativity has to be used to solve problems involving accelerating bodies.
So, let me bounce this off you. The effects of special relativity are witnessed when looking at one observer from the other. So, it works both ways. But, it does not apply to an accelerating body.
I think I understand it alot better now. So, since accelaration is beyond the domain of special relativity, all effects of special rel are temporary? (as in, when relative velocity becomes zero, every thing seems normal again, and all clocks show the same time, and all rods that were same length measure the same).
One of the problems with special relativity is that the maths is far easier than the understanding, hence the huge number of ''proofs'' that it is wrong, based on misunderstandings, and usually written in a fit of pure rage ...
You are a breath of fresh air when you say you think your wrong and just don''t know why :o)
I agree with the other posters : x'' = ct'' ? The coordinate is the speed of light times time? huh?
You might try sci.physics.relativity rather than a games forum, although if it hasn''t changed since I was last there expect 2,000 new articles every day, 90% of which fit into the category at the top of my post ...
Oh...sorry, lost my common sense there. Since it doesnt apply to accelerating bodies, there is no way to actually change the relative velocity between two frames of reference.
The math is quite simple and the book will guide you to the same conclusions Einstein discovered. Once you understand special relativity it's amazing how simple and logical it is. 
